Say NO to Waterways Rezoning Proposal
Do you want more marinas, kiosks, mooring pens and charter boat facilities among our waterway residential areas? If not, then you need to let Council know they need to end their pursuit of Planning Proposal PLN008-26 NOW!
Quick Actions
- Read the open letter to councillors, signed by key community groups
- Write your own letter or email to councillors
- Attend the Council meeting at 5:45pm on 28 April
See the bottom of this page for more details about actions you can take to oppose this proposal.
Council works in secret
Since December 2023 Sutherland Shire Council has been working in secret to rezone the majority of our waterways in Port Hacking and Georges River from W1 Natural Waterways to W2 Recreation Waterways. Council’s initial idea was to rezone all of the waterways. They encountered opposition and are now working on a scaled back version.
The SSEC strongly opposes any rezoning.
Council is wasting your rates
Council is going to consider this proposal again on 28 April 2026. The Planning Committee didn’t discuss the business paper, item PLN008-26, so we have no idea what the Councillors are thinking.
We have one consultant’s report that failed to convince anyone that this proposal has merit. You can find that here along with the Department of Planning Housing and Infrastructure’s rejection of the application here. The Leader ran a story on this on March 4 and you can see it here.
Council is now proposing to spend another $50,000 on another consultancy to do a desktop study to try and make the case for the rezoning. This makes no sense. Read our press release here that sets out why this is a waste of time and money.
We have written to the Minister asking that he and his agency, DPHI, bring this proposal to an end. You can see our letter here.
We have prepared a brief for all councillors that sets out the case to withdraw this proposal now. No-one can say they were not informed of the case against this proposal. You can read our briefing here. We have also partnered with like-minded community organisations to publish an open letter to councillors calling for this proposal to be scrapped, which you can read here.
The key question is…
Why is Council spending tens of thousands of dollars to help a small group of waterfront owners get more when so many programs in the Shire are screaming for funding? Only Councillors know the answer to that question.
Who wins
- A small group of increasingly wealthy waterfront property owners
- Consultants who keep writing reports that go nowhere
Who loses
- Everyone else – you, me, our kids and their kids….
What do we lose
- Sea grass beds, especially the threatened posidonia australis species, through shading of the sea floor as well as greater disturbance
- Fish nursery habitat linked to all sea grass beds, say goodbye to catching a decent fish with the kids or grandkids in the coming years
- Riparian vegetation that provides habitat for birds and arboreal mammals, no more soaring birds of prey like sea eagles and osprey
- Visual landscapes through increased infrastructure and tree loss, you can forget getting on the water and feeling a million miles away from the city when all you see is houses and their infrastructure
- Clear clean water and sand inundated by sedimentation and turbidity through increased run off and poor erosion and sediment control
- Migratory bird habitat through changed wave and tidal energy resulting from greater armouring of the foreshore to protect new assets
- Affordable insurance as public liability risk increases through further development of land vulnerable to sea level rise, this is a path to uninsurable assets, higher insurance premiums for everyone from increased claims and calls on governments to bail out affected land owners and our taxes will pay for that
Take action now
You can change the outcome by doing three easy things:
- write or call your Ward Councillors and tell them to not support the proposal, their details are here and a guide on how to write a letter is here.
- write to the Leader newspaper and let them know you oppose the proposal here or by email at leader@theleader.com.au and a guide on how to write a letter is here.
- attend Council’s meeting on 28 April at the Council Chambers, 4/20 Eton Street Sutherland, at 5:45pm to hear the community speak on this issue and then be a witness to Council’s debate and decision.
Our waterways will only receive the care that they require when we speak up and say enough is enough. Make your voice heard. Write your letters today. Join us at Council on the 28th.
